


Wishes and Horses

by Lisse



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Future Fic, Kid Fic, Past Character Death, Past Relationship(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-07-20
Updated: 2005-07-20
Packaged: 2017-12-25 07:13:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/950205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lisse/pseuds/Lisse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hermione brings three children to a train station.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wishes and Horses

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written way back post-HBP in an attempt to reconcile my fanon Harry/Hermione tendencies with the fact that I love canon Ron/Hermione and want to draw little hearts around it forever.

The first time the twins call her Mum, they're standing in front of the Hogwarts Express with their black hair tangled and their owl cages clutched protectively in front of them. They say it naturally and casually, their freckles crinkling up around their large dark eyes as they smile. 

Hermione has to stop and steady herself before she can smile back.

Her son's already run off on his own, because he tracked down Neville's boy and there's mischief to be had. She spots him once, a half-head taller than anyone else. For a fleeting moment she wishes she'd been able to tackle him and comb his hair properly, but he's fourteen now and knows better. Probably a futile wish anyway.

She pushes the thought away and makes herself smile and wave to Gwen and Sarah, firmly telling herself that she will not start crying. She's nearly fifty and her hair's gone grey at the temples. There's no need to start bawling just because a pair of Quidditch-obsessed little girls seem to have finally decided she's a suitable parent.

Eventually everyone disappears onto the train. Hermione stands stock-still with her hands in her pockets and waits until it vanishes from sight. Then she turns around, head high and two rings heavy on her finger, and Apparates home.

"Go well?" Harry asks in a way that he probably means to be casual. He's got something sticky in his hair and a proud little baby perched on his shoulders. She shrugs to hide shaking shoulders and takes her time making herself a cup of tea. 

They have a nice little home, utterly ordinary as such things go. Anyone who knows them well enough to visit also knows better than to mention that there's three wedding pictures on the wall.

If she were younger she might be wishing -- wishing that Ron had been a cautious Auror instead of a brave one, wishing for Harry's sake that Ginny'd had less temper and more sense. But she is older now, a respected professor at a fledgling college of magic, so she tells herself that old line about wishes and horses and listens to the rings clink against her teacup.

"Did Kevin behave?" Harry asks after a long time. He knows how long the silences need to last.

She nods and peers down into her teacup, as if she ever believed that she could read the future there.

"The girls blow up anything new?"

She looks up and almost smiles. Baby Samantha is trying to perch a plush puffskein on Harry's head. Her hair is bushy and black and her eyes glitter with good-natured mischief.

"They called me Mum," she says at last.

His expression is unreadable, so she looks away quickly, well aware that three different couples are staring down at her. The rings feel heavier than ever, but she wouldn't take either of them off now. Wishes and horses are silly things.

"Good for them," he says softly. The baby squeals as he leans down and kisses the top of her head. 

She feels the rings lighten as she reaches up to steady her.


End file.
